Natural Order is restored at SW19 as sixth seed sees off her Czech compatriot
7-6, 6-1

Former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova struck a blow for the restoration of the natural order when ending the anarchy of previous days in dispatching her lower-ranked Czech compatriot, Lucie Safarova, 7-6, 6-1, to reach the women’s final for the second time in her career.

Seeds had been toppled, reputations had been battered, but the gaggle of theatrical stars in the Royal Box, from Dame Maggie Smith to Colin Firth, had little need to tell these two players that the show must go on.

After the shocks and upsets, there was a stage to claim, a performance to give, applause to be milked and an ovation to take.

These close friends and Fed Cup colleagues were determined to lift the downbeat Centre Court mood of the previous afternoon and illustrate that there was tennis life beyond the travails of Andy Murray.

Kvitova earned her moment in the spotlight, beaming with delight at the prospect of what lies ahead. Initially, it had been a tricky encounter, the first time two Czechs had met in a grand slam semi-final, but the 24-year-old had too much class, too much clout to be denied, surging through to victory after a testing opening set in 1 hr 20 min.

Kvitova would know how Murray was feeling for she, too, had had a career setback after winning her title as a 21-year-old in beating Maria Sharapova in 2011. She struggled to live up to her billing.

She had been within a whisker of becoming world No 1 but slipped back through her own frailties. The acclaim and scrutiny weighed heavily and it has taken her three years to return to this point.

“For sure, there have been ups and downs since then,” Kvitova admitted.

“I had to change myself off court, get used to the pressure. I won it quite young and it was difficult to handle. It takes time to get used to being favourite. I am more grown-up now, definitely.”

She is more assured these days, more certain of her place in the sporting firmament, and ready for all that these Wimbledon Championships entail.

“I know what it feels like to hold the trophy and I will do everything I can to win again,” said Kvitova.

Her hunger has been restored, her body (a huge strapping on her right thigh notwithstanding), is in good working order and a second title is within her grasp.

On the hottest day of the year so far, she had no need to indulge in blue sky thinking to dream of that possibility. Her serve was dominant and she extended her lead as the most potent of servers, adding another six aces to pervious tally of 38.

There were nerves on show, though, due to having to face one of her best friends across the net.

As the Williams sisters have shown, such familiarity is not always easy to shake off when there is a need for ruthlessness.

“That made it tough,” acknowledged Kvitova, albeit she had won all five previous encounters including the most recent at Eastbourne.

Kvitova did not quite have things all her own way and was stretched and tested throughout a gripping first set but came through to take the tie-break 8-6, and wrap up that opening skirmish in 51 minutes.

Safarova, 27, had not dropped a set in getting to this stage. Kvitova had been within two points of going out to Venus Williams in the third round but found a way to conquer even that indomitable force.

That willpower and savvy was critical. Much as Safarova tried, much as she made an effort to mix it all up, she knew deep within that Kvitova had everything at her disposal to cope. And so she did.

The second set was a formality. Safarova dropped serve in her opening game, again in the sixth game, Kvitova wrapping it all up with a decisive final game to love. She is back in her element, back in a Wimbledon final.